Pulp decoy



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PULP DEcoY Filed Sept. 5, 1946 Patented Jan. 17, 1950 UNITED PATENT'GFFQ' 3 Claims..

' 1i rEhe present invention relates. generally to, iinprovements in theart or producing molded ar ticlesy from fibrous pulpJ or; the like, andrelates. morer particularly to improvements in the con.- struction andmethod of. producing aqua-tic decors. A primary object of my presentinvention isl to provide an` improved huntersf decoy- Which iS:v simpleand durable. in construction and highly4 efficient in use, and which isespecially adapted to. be. produced primari-ly-v oi relatively light;and inexpensive material` such-z as fibrous pulp.k

In hunting and relatedA sports, it has long been customary to usevlife-like; imitation decors. to attract the gaine to localities selectedby the hunter. For many years, such decoys were produced of wood eitherby. hand carving or;v by machine; but in more recent. years; decoysmolded or otherwise formed` of relatively light. and in-. expensivematerials such as paper pulp have` become extremely popular andextensively used by hunters. However, in the` manufacture of lightWeight molded pulp decoys, it isnecessary tor provide meansfor causingthe pulp-.shell forming the bodyto float and to; be maintainedV inupright. position on the waterl Furthermore, during the suction moldingprocess, an openingI mustbe left inthe decoy body for introduction ofthe pulp stock into thel forming mold, and this opening mustsubsequently be tightly sealed in order to prevent possible leakage ofwaterA into the hollow eXternally-waterproofed' body. In the manufactureof molded pulp decoys,L ithasf heretofore been the practice in some.instances to introduce. the-r pulp stock into: the mold. through anopening in the recessed bottom of thebody thereafter covering theopening by means of a. buoyant plate or board conned and retained withinthe recess by suitable means such as aber pivotally mounted on the boardand cooperable with an inner portion or the decoy body in the manner ofa latch. In other cases, it has been the practice to. intro.- duce thepulp. stock through an.Y opening in the top wall of the. decoy body andto subsequently plug the opening while. providing. a separate buoyantplate for the imperforate bottom, the buoyant plate either beinglttedinto a recess or being secured in a' suitable manner directly to thesubstantially flat bottom. Although various sealing and adhesivesubstances such as pitch have heretoforebeen used in efforts to securetherighting boards in place and eliminate leakage, considerablediiiiculty hasI been encountered in these prior attempts to produceeffective seals becausev of the. failure to'- eliminate' formation offair bubbles in the adhesive or thel like duringI applica-l tion. Whiletheseprior molded pulp decoys have been manufactured, solct and used' bythe thousands: with greaty success, the buoyant righting boards. and/orsealing plugs required careful tting and sealing in order to prevent thepossible seepage off water intov the hollow pulp bodies during the longperiods of exposure to the water while in use and production wassomewhat complicated in the various assemblages heretofore proposed ineiorts to eliminate or prevent such possible leakage.

It is therefore amore specific object of my present' invention toprovide an improved hollow molded pulp decoy wherein. the hollow bodyinterior is eitectively sealed-i and the disadvantages attendant. theprior art structures are obviated.

Another specific object of this invention is to prov-ide animprovedhollow molded pulp decoy wherein the pulp. stock is introduced into themold through an opening in the bottom of the decoy body with the bottomopening being closedv by a buoyant balancing and righting board andeiectively/ sealed in a simple andV novel manner.

Another specific. object of my invention is to provide an improvedhollow pulp decoy having the bottom opening. closed by a buoyant plateand sealedaga'inst seepage of' liquid in an efficient manner without theuse ofv mechanical expediente such as special latch elements, screws orbolts.

Another specific, object of the present invention is. to provide animproved aquatic pulp decoy assemblage which may be readily manufacturedandl assembled atA moderate cost, and which is adapted to eiectivelywithstand considerable abuse and' hard usage.

A further speciiic object of this invention is to provide.r an improvedfibrous pulp decoy which is highly attractive and lifelike inappearance, which is composed of a. minimum number of available parts,and which will automatically assume upright or natural position whenfloating.

Still another specifici object oi` the invention is tot provide animproved exceedingly strong and durable light-weight decoy which may bereadily formed primarily of' inexpensive paper pulp in accordance withan improved and simple method with the aid ot standard pulpv moldingequipment atV low cost.

These: and other specic objects. and advantages of the present inventionwill be apparent fromthe following detailed description.

A clear. conception of the features constituting myy present invention,andof they method in which the. improved deco-JS. may be commerciallyproduced., may be, had by referring to the drawing accompanying andforming a part of this specilication, wherein like reference charactersdesignate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. l is a central longitudinal vertical section through a typicalswimming duck type of hunters decoy, embodying an inset wooden baseboard applied and sealed in accordance with my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the duck decoy of Fig. l, portions beingbroken away to reveal internal structure; and

Fig. 3 is a central transverse vertical section through the same decoy.

While the invention has been shown and described herein as beingadvantageously applied to a typical molded pulp hunters decoy of theswimming or floating type,` it is not my desire or intent to therebyunnecessarily restrict or limit the utility of the improvement, sincethe invention may obviously be more generally applied to various othertypes of decoys formed with hollow bodies and of any suitable moldablematerial such as newsprint pulp, papier-mch, or plastics.

Referring to the drawing, the typical duck decoy shown therein asembodying the invention comprises in general, a relatively light hollowshell of approximately uniform thickness form-ing a body of moldedfibrous material such as paper pulp, the body 5 having a substantiallyfiat base 6 provided with an elongated downwardly open recess I havingthe bounding wall thereof terminating in an upper inwardly directedflange 8 to provide an opening 9 for feeding pulp stock to the mold andthrough which access may be obtained for coating the interior of theshell 5 with asphalt, tar, pitch or other adhesive and water-proofmaterial I Il; a flat balancing or righting board I I impregnated andcoated with a material such as tar or pitch I2 to snugly confine andadhesively secure the same within the lower recess 'l against the upperflange or wall 8 thereof; a heat sealed cloth or metallic compositionfoil I3 such as Plastine adhesively secured to and covering the bottomof the board I I, the cloth or foil I3 extending beyond the edges of theboard to seal the joint between the board II and the wall of the recess'I; and a relatively thick layer of asphalt, tar or the like I4 spreadover the cloth I3 to substantially ll the recess l.

The body 5 and the integral side walls and upper wall 8 of the decoy maybe simultaneously molded of fibrous pulp in the well-known type ofsuction molding machine, with the pulp Stock being fed through theopening S in the wall 8. The righting and balancing board II ispreferably formed of a durable wood, and should be shaped to reasonablysnugly fit within the recess 'I with suicient space remaining betweenthe bottom surface of the board II and the lower surface of the rst base6 to accommodate the cloth I3 and layer of asphalt I4 or the like whichpreferably extends throughout the entire horizontal area of the board IIas well as the recess 1.

In actual production of the improved pulp decoys embodying my invention,the hollow bodies 5 may be initially produced with standard suctionmolding machines in a well known manner with recesses 'I formed in thebases thereof, the pulp being fed to the molds through the openings 9.After such initial step, the interiors of the shells 5 may beimpregnated or coated with a waterproof material such as asphalt, tar orpitch.

Thereafter, the boards I I are dipped in a molten adhesive water-proofmaterial such as used for coating the shell interiors and are positionedwithin the recesses and against the integral stop flanges 8 to close theopenings 9. The heatsealed cloth or foil sheets I3 may then bepositioned over the impregnated boards II, being secured thereagainst bythe adhesive; and finally with each body 5 in inverted position, aquantity of molten adhesive material such as hot asphalt,

i tar or pitch is poured within the recess 1 over the heat-sealed sheetI3 so as to provide a sealing layer I4 of the adhesive which hardens asit drys.

During the process of assembling the decoys, the boards II should bepositioned and rmly pressed in place within the recesses 'I immediatelyafterdipping and before the molten adhesive coating has had time to setor harden; and the cloth or foil sheets I3 should likewise be appliedwhile the adhesive is still molten and tacky. The heat-sealed sheets I3thereby seal the boards which invariably contain a considerable amountof moisture, from the final layer or deposit of molten adhesive, and inaddition, these sheets serve to absorb a certain amount of heat from themolten adhesive, thereby eliminating formation of bubbles otherwiseoccurring in the layers I4. As the adhesive cools and hardens, thevarious parts become thoroughly adhesively attached and all of thejoints are effectively sealed against leakage. The various parts coatedwith the adhesive are likewise water-proofed and reenforced thereby, andthe body exterior may finally be suitably water-proofed and painted orotherwise decorated.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be apparent that thepresent invention provides an improved decoy assemblage and method ofproducing the same which is both simple and eiiicient. Decoys made inaccordance with the invention are 'light and durable in construction andare effectively protected against moisture and possible leakage inaddition to being selfrighting while afloat. By having the opening forintroduction of the pulp stock in the base, the righting and balancingboard serves to cover the opening without need for additional plugs; andthis board is rmly secured and maintained in place within the recesswith all joints being effectively sealed and the parts waterproofed bymeans of the adhesive. The application of the molten adhesive is simpleand formation of air or water bubbles or blisters in the adhesive iseffectively eliminated through use of the heat-sealed sheet I3 whichseals the molten adhesive during application from the board whichinvariably contains moisture. This sheet I3 also absorbs some of theheat of the molten adhesive, thereby aiding in more rapidly cooling themolten material; and by virtue of the use of molten adhesive whichhardens upon cooling and the use of which is rendered practical andhighly successful because of the heat-sealed sheet, a simple andefficient means is provided both for attaching the board I I in placewithout resorting to the use of special fasteners as well as for sealingtheboards without the need for providing an opening other than in thedecoy base for the introduction of pulp stock and the attendant need forseparate plugs. Obviously the improved assemblage is simple and decoysproduced in accordance with the improved method may be rapidly producedat low cost and in large quantities, and attractive, durable, and lightiweight decoys which maybe manufactured with standard suction moldingequipment are provided.

It should be understood that it is not desired or intended to limit thisinvention to the exact details of construction or to the precise mode ofproduction herein shown and described, for various modifications Withinthe scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. A molded decoy comprising, a hollow body of molded material having abottom recess, a righting board confined entirely Within said recess, asealing sheet disposed over the external surface of said board alsoWithin said recess, said sheet extending beyond the edges of said boardand overlapping the adjacent portions of said body, and a layer ofadhesive sealing material covering said sealing sheet Within saidrecess.

2. A molded decoy comprising, a hollow body of molded material having abottom recess, a righting board confined entirely within said recess, asealing sheet disposed over the external surface of said board alsowithin said recess, and a layer of adhesive sealing material coveringsaid sealing sheet within said recess.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nieofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 508,818 Curlin Nov. 14, 1893749,909 Upham Jan. 19, 1904 2,247,450 Olsen July 1, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 327,063 Great Britain of 1930

